NJC volleyball team retooled for new season

Plainswomen roster goes through major overhaul

NJC sophomore outside hitter Aimee Johnson receives a serve at practice on Thursday. Johnson will be one of three captains for the team this season. (David Wilson / Sterling Journal-Advocate)

The Northeastern Junior College volleyball team has spent nearly as much time in practice getting to know each other as they have learning offensive sets in preparation for the 2013 season as only seven of the 19 roster spots are filled with returning players.

"This is a fresh, brand new team. People that come and watch us are going to see a lot of new faces as we have upward of 12 new girls on the team this year," said second-year coach Jessica Squier.

Last season, the Plainswomen finished second in the Region IX South Sub-Region to Western Nebraska. WNCC went on to be the runner-ups at nationals and opens this season ranked No. 1 in the National Junior College Athletic Association's preseason poll.

The loss of nearly her entire rotation from last season initially had Squier worried about this season, but she said she has seen tremendous growth from the sophomores on this year's team.

"When coach (Karen) Tong and I were trying to recruit, we didn't think that our sophomores were going to be at the level we thought (as a team) we could to be at. We really heavily recruited competitive, talented girls in the offseason thinking we weren't going to have very many of the sophomores play," Squier said. "In actuality, you can tell that these sophomores have done a lot of work over the summer. There has been a lot of maturing, growth and their mental game is by far tougher than it was last year."

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Three of those nine sophomores were named team captains — setter Kati Kuntz, outside hitter Candance Cook and outside hitter Aimee Johnson — and will be instrumental for the younger players on the Plainswomen roster.

Johnson is moving to the right side of the court this year in hopes of bringing some stability and weaponry from that position.

"We moved her over to the right side in hoping that she helps that side and becomes a demanding right-side hitter. We want her moving all over the court and kind of being a gnat in the other team's eyes," Squier said.

NJC is also expecting key contributions this season from Caroline Siqueira, a transfer student from the College of Central Florida, and outside hitter Amanda Wronkoski.

The Plainswomen will go against each other at 11 a.m on Saturday with an inner-squad scrimmage and will open the season at the North Platte Tournament on Aug. 23. The home opener for NJC will be on Sept. 5 against North Platte at 6 p.m.

Kuntz said these next few weeks are important for her and her teammates to get comfortable playing together and be on the same page when on the floor.

"As the setter, building connections with the hitters is important," Kuntz said. "We're still learning to play together and will be learning during the preseason, but with where we are now, I'm excited to see how far we are going to progress during the season."

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